More Cravings For Ice

JS is still very much obsessed with ice and a couple of weeks ago, I bought a popsicle mold with the plan of making some fruit popsicles for him. However, before I managed to find some time to make it for him, he already made some for himself. Not for eating, but for play. 

Well, here's what happened. There was this evening when he got hold of the mold which I had taken out earlier that day for JE to play with. He asked me if I could make some ice pops for him but I told him that it was too late and since Daddy and I were engaged in a conversation, he went away and started making it on his own, using drinking water. Soon after, he came to me to ask for more water because he did not have enough to fill up the mold. Since he could not eat the popsicle anyway (the mold has not been washed), I told him to use tap water instead. He happily filled up the mold and popped it into the freezer. 

When he woke up the following day, he immediately went to check whether it was ready and of course, it was. So he and his sister had an early morning ice play, even before breakfast.

Upon seeing how he craved for a popsicle that could actually be eaten, we made some soon after breakfast. 

First, I made him try squeezing some grapefruit juice but it was too  difficult for him so we decided to use the blender. 

He had to peel off the skin and pop the fruit into the blender. Next, we cut some kiwi and put them into the mold. 

Then JS poured the juice into the mold and placed the sticks in place before popping it into the freezer. 

Shortly after lunch, he was able to enjoy some self-made fruity popsicle. The only thing he does not know is that Mommy purposely made him add the kiwis because that would most probably be the only form that he would eat! (Mission accomplished!)

Playing With My Favourite Things - Eggs and Ice!

JS is an egg lover. Not that he likes to eat them but he is more into the object itself. Thus he is attracted to anything that is shaped like an egg, including toy eggs and Kinder Surprise Eggs, which is an addiction that I am finding it a challenge to make him quit! No, we do not buy it for him but he is addicted to watching the videos on YouTube. 

Due to his interest in eggs, he has been more than eager to help me crack them for cooking. He had also tried scrambling them for omelettes and whisking them for pancakes. He also loves to peel the hard boiled ones. 

So far, all the activities he did with eggs were for cooking (except for toy eggs, of course) and I thought he would definitely love the idea of making some ice pops with them, not for eating but for art. On top of that, ice is another of his favourite thing to play with. I was sure that the combination of these two items would make this activity more appealing to him, which was undoubtedly true. He actually cried when they melted. 

We started off by filling in water into some empty eggshells. He found a tiny funnel the day before and asked what it was for so I decided to let him use it in this activity. 

JS pouring water into the eggshells using the help of a funnel.

Next, he put a popsicle stick into each of the egg, popped them into the freezer and left them there for a few hours. 

After his nap, he was all ready to check out the eggs. 

He tried to peel the shell but it would not come off. We wiped the eggs with a wet towel and viola it could easily be removed! 

As he peeled the eggs, I quickly put some clay into the egg tray for him to stick the ice pops on. 

Just for some extra fun, we added more colours to the ice pops by putting on some coloured salt we made the day before. 

I said they looked like ice flowers, but JS said they were trees. Ok, so they were trees in the river... because when the ice melted the water filled up the holes in the egg tray and made it looked like a river. 

When the ice pops began to disappear... JS started to cry! "My ice pops! I want my ice pops!" he said. I had to calm him down and tell him that we would make them again. 

When Can I Play With The Toys?

Last weekend, JS' friend, AL came over for a play date. We decided to make frozen toys for both of them to play. 

Two days before the date, we got some containers and filled them with toys by categories - vehicles, balls, food, utensils, shapes, legos and one with a dinosaur. 

Then JS filled the containers with water. As most of the toys would float, we only filled them half way full. Next, we put them in the freezer and waited until the following day. 

JS pouring water into the containers.

JS was excited to see that the water had frozen and the toys were halfway stuck in the ice. Again, he filled the containers with water, this time, to the brim. 

Two days later when AL arrived, he excitedly pulled her to the freezer to show her the ice blocks. As it was AL's first encounter with such blocks, she did not know what to do with them. Two ice blocks came off easily but the rest were stuck tightly in the containers. 

Both children finding ways to get the ice blocks out of the containers.

"Hmmm.... should we try to melt the ice with some water?" I asked AL and she went off to fetch some water instantly. 

The children pouring water onto an ice block. 

Eventually, they managed to get the ice blocks out.

"The ice blocks are coming out!"

We tried to pulled toys from the 'utensil block' first because AL wanted to play with the fork but she ended up playing with the bowl. She really enjoyed herself scooping water into the bowl with the spoon she used to break the ice. 

"Can we hit the ice blocks with a spoon to break them? "I want to play with the toys now!" 

AL indulging herself in scooping water into a small bowl while JS tries to pull more toys out. 

If you have more time to spend, you can make larger ice blocks with bigger toys in them. Otherwise, you can also use small containers and put only one small toy in each container so the ice melts faster and the children get to play with them sooner. It's also a great way for them to cultivate their patience!

Icy Fun!

Ice painting is another fun and interesting project that a child can do on his own from scratch. It is extremely appealing to JS as he loves ice very much. There was a time when he would open the freezer to get himself some ice cubes to play with when I was busy in the kitchen. 

He has seen me filling in the ice cube trays with water to make ice, but I doubt he really knew how ice was formed. Even after the project, I was not sure whether he really learnt the ice making process but who cares, as along as he had some fun. He would figure it out one day. 

So, this was what we did. 

On Day 1, we only managed to make the ice as we started the project quiet late in the afternoon. 

JS mixing food colouring with water.

JS pouring the mixture into blocks of different shapes.

On Day 2, when I took the tray of ice out of the freezer.......

Hey! Look at JS' reaction when he saw the ice.

Obviously, I had to help him with this. You need to do it very quickly. Like in a few seconds.

He did this on his own. Not bad, huh!